The Pain and the Passion
by Angst Splatter
Summary: Cedric Diggory was not stalking anybody. Especially not him. Cedric was not a stalker. He knew better than that. Then what was he doing here? "I’m stalking him," the answer popped up, unbidden, in his mind. A fic of unrequited love.


Apparently when I'm sick I like to write. I should be writing NaNo – I'm now days behind because the flu did take me out for a while – but there's all these fun HP challenges out there… This one is unrequited love. I like the idea, but had no idea for characters. So I closed my eyes and scrolled through the character choices. I landed on Cedric and Montague, but only liked the Cedric side. His unrequited love came quickly to mind, though I never thought as him as gay or bi before this, interestingly enough.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

Cedric Diggory was not stalking anybody. Especially not _him_. Cedric was not a stalker. His father had taught him better than that. He knew better than that. Then what was he doing here? _I'm stalking him._ The answer popped up, unbidden, in his mind. His cheeks flushed red and he heard one of the young Slytherins at the next table over giggle when he noticed.

Cedric lifted his book up higher, eyes rising over its edge so he could stare at the object of his affection. No! Not affection. Interest, maybe, but not affection. _Yeah, right_, he couldn't help but disagree with his earlier logic. If it could even be called logic, really. Since when was love ever logical?

But this wasn't love! Cedric had known since sometime in his first year at Hogwarts that he was gay. Since he had figured it out he hadn't developed many crushes, and nothing was serious. If he went out with anyone, he went out with a girl. It's not that he was trying to convince himself that he was straight – until now, maybe – but he just wasn't sure how his father would react.

Amos Diggory had a way with words – whatever was on his mind he would blurt out, often insulting people when he really didn't meant to. Amos was a great man, wizard, and father, but Cedric was still afraid of what he would inadvertently say when and if Cedric ever told him the truth. Especially if he told him his current object of – no! He must not go there again.

Having been caught up in his mind, Cedric finally noticed that – besides having forgotten to turn the page to make people think he was actually reading and not stalking someone, because he wasn't, he wasn't – his person of interest had disappeared. With a growl loud enough to earn a glare from Madam Pince, Cedric stalked out of the library, going over the list of places he might have gone and where to start.

Not that he had been stalking him long enough to know his schedule and hideouts by now. Cedric only sent up a quick wish that he hadn't gone back to his common room, because there was no way Cedric could get into their. Though, by following him for as long as he had been, he now knew where that common room was. Not that he was ever tempted to go in there or anything.

Cedric found him again outside near the lake, fighting with who he was always fighting with. Cedric sighed and plopped down to sit against a tree, distractedly taking out a piece of parchment, his quill and ink, and a book, so people would think he was working on homework. All the while, he stared at the one he thought he was falling in love with, his forbidden fruit – for multiple reasons.

Harry and his two best friends stormed past Cedric, hardly noticing him – not that anyone noticed a Hufflepuff, really, especially not one that wasn't in their year. But his eyes didn't follow the young hero or his friends. His eyes stayed on the young Draco Malfoy and his friend-like bodyguard.

He knew it was wrong to think that he loved a younger Slytherin, but he couldn't help it. Draco's platinum blond hair was always slicked back with too much grease, but it made it shine that much more in the sun. His smirk was like the window to his soul. He was rough around the edges, especially with, well, other houses, but during his stalking sessions Cedric had seen the Slytherin tutor countless younger and peer-age housemates, take a first year Slytherin girl to infirmary when she had fallen and barely scraped her knee, and stand up for his fellow housemates when the other houses turned on them. He had a sweet side, you just had to know how to bring it out.

Cedric found it all fascinating, and thought it all added up to a beautiful person. He couldn't control his feelings. He had fallen and fallen hard for the young Slytherin as sure as he was gay. Yet the only interaction he had received with the young man was to get yelled at once when he had been staring too obviously. Cedric had been in too much shock to stand up for himself over the fact that Draco had noticed him.

It was not to be, though. Cedric was a Hufflepuff. Draco was a Slytherin. Who ever heard of those two houses hooking up? Besides that, Cedric was gay, and Draco was not. As Draco strutted past, Cedric's heart fluttered, but the blond didn't look over. He was a step ahead of his constant companions, as always, and Cedric sighed dreamily, wondering if this torture would ever end.

"Cedric? Cedric? Are you okay?" Cedric panicked and shook himself out of his happy little dreamland. Cho, a pretty girl from Ravenclaw, was staring at him worriedly. "I told my friends I'd come check on you. You looked out of it. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Cedric murmured, heart fluttering. "I'm fine. Thanks. Cedric Diggory," he said, calmer now, sticking his hand out.

She gave a brilliant smile and shook his hand. "Cho Chang. I'm in Ravenclaw."

As the days went on and Cedric spent more and more time with Cho he stopped stalking Draco so much. He liked Cho, he really did. She was a great girl – very smart, determined, diligent, and conscientious. The problem was that Cedric was beginning to see that Cho seemed to like him. In a way that he just couldn't like her. But she distracted him from Draco and having to face his dad, friends, and the world if he ever came out. She was a joy to be around and Cedric was beginning to convince himself that was enough. He still liked Draco, but he knew that was never going to happen. Maybe Cho could be the one to help him up from his confusion, in whatever way she could.

HP~HP~HP~HP~HP

…Okay. That was confusing and weird. I'm putting this up anyway and I'll just hope that I get some feedback on it so it can be better the next time.


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